The long road to recovery

I have been blessed with the support and kindness during the last two weeks. Hugo is doing much better and is now on a course of 6 week antibiotic with twice weekly nebulisation. He is back to his usual self and besides sneezing is improving daily. The vet has diagnosed him with either a mild case of Aspergillus or Chlamydial. I have done research on the internet and am pulling out all the stops to ensure that he is in an environment that is clean, clean, clean.

Please could I get advice on a few things - would be very grateful! I have bought a disinfectant from the vet and will be disinfecting everything tomorrow. How do I move forward from hear? Do I disinfect weekly? Daily? Monthly? Do I have a spray at the ready spraying everything all the time and picking up droppings during the day? Where do you draw the line? I aslo read that fruit and veg that are left out for more than 3 hours can cause bacteria - is this true? Do I need to change it 4 times a day then? The vet has stipulated that I kept him draught free and keep all windows and doors closed. My flat is like a hot house. Surely I can open the window in the interleading room?

Does anyone know of a natural remedie that I could use in case Hugo gets a running tummy from the antibiotics. I just am so worried about stuffing him with medication. He might get light sensitive as well . What have I done so badly wrong that Hugo is sick - everyone else seems to have healthy birds - did I miss something? He is having vit A injections and is now on pellets.

You are doing a fantastic job my girl !!!!!
Any bird would be proud to call you MOMMY.
You do not stop until you have all the answers.
I browse thru all questions and answers, YOU EXHAUST ME GIRL. LoL
No just joking, always interesting to hear what other bird lover's need to know.
We are all still leaning something new, all the time, about birds.
That is the reason we joined the parrot forum.
Unfortunately not able to help with the disinfectant subject. I have not ever disinfected her cage. I have cooked her wood, as we all should. Fortunately, working from home, I am always available for her. Not many birds lovers, are so fortunate. I thank god everyday. If there is a big mess I clean up immediately.
I give Mishka her cereal in the morning, fill her bowl with a small amount of pellets, about 100g. Fruit at noon, few nuts about 3pm. Then veggies for dinner, or whatever is on the menu. Maybe try giving him veggies at night, then you are able to clean up straight away. I clean her cage, straight after dinner, miskien is there a method in my madness.
Knowing you personally, you have not done anything bad to deserve this..
You know my story about my birds ?????
It's one of life's lesson I guess, makes on stronger AND
makes us appreciate what we have.
Keep up the good work, asking advise and learning.
Hope something here was useful to you.
HUGO DESERVES YOU 11111
TAKE CARE

Lol - thanks sweetheart. Will try your method of feeding. Thanks so much for the info, chat lata Got your email - you have so much strenght!!!!! What a legend. Mwah!!!!

Ec At the parrot care class today I attended we were talking about disinfection of a cage. Not necessary unless a disease or virus was present. It was suggested that one of those steamers that steams you clothes would kill anything and of course good old GSE) grapefruitseed extract. You are doing such a good job.
There are so many things that can make a bird sick it is impossible to put them in a bubble. SB

I know this is an old thread, but I am curious about what others think about disinfecting cage, perch, toys, hands.

I have been in the habit of disinfecting my hands before handling my birds, as many viruses and baterias are communicable between birds and humans. People are exposed to a lot of junk (i.e. pushing the cart around the grocery store then coming home and handling the bird is bad, in my opinion).

So there you have justification for humans cleaning up before contacting birds.

I have extended this to periodically using disinfectant in the cage (not while the bird is in it and I wait until everything is dry before returning the bird).

A local breeder is insistent about disinfecting. Of course, the vet always disinfects, as any doctor seeing a new patient would.

Does anyone believe this is harmful or simply unnecessary?

Hi Andrew, during the 10 months of Hugo's sickness I became very aware of bacteria and germs. Unfortunately, it was a long and loosing battle which ended up with me loosing a friend. The sickness brought us closer and I spent most of my time - when not spending quality time with Hugo, disinfecting and making sure that the area he was living in was germ free.

My reason for doing that was not because I was worried about my flat and the area he was living in but because his immune system was very weak and any bacteria or germ that would normally have not posed a problem was a worry because of the state he was in. He came to me sick and all I could do was treat the symptoms. The horrifying reality was that the anti-biotics (he was on many courses) were also weakening his liver and kidneys so the vicious circle never stopped.

I now own a very LIVELY - lol, lovebird and have packed away all my disinfecting agents (they were all safe for bird use) and do not disinfect anymore. I make sure that her fruit/veg bowl is clean, the cage is clean and the area is clean everyday. Wildheart mentioned in a thread that we protect our parrots as if they were in a bubble, with the generations of domestic birds becoming companions the ability to ward off viruses and bateria decrease and you are left with birds who are not as strong immune system wise compared to their wild relatives. I PERSONALLY feel that by disinfecting around a healthy bird weakens their ability if a germ or bacteria was near them e.g. taking them outside or a friend caring for them - in other words if they leave their disinfected area. Im not an expert but that is what I personally feel. On the other hand, if you own an aviary or are a breeder there are more birds than one so the chances of them picking up something is alot higher and for the sake of the industry you want healthy birds to leave your property.

I also understand the fact that even if you just own one bird you could be keeping your bird from getting germs by disinfecting - quiet a debate!!

You can understand a vet disinfecting because he is working with sick birds but I make sure my hands are clean and that I monitore my lovebird carefully so that I am able to see immediately if there is something wrong. Rosie May is very active and playful and I know that in some parrots they dont show the symptoms straight away but what I saw with Hugo's fluctuating habits was that I could see when the disease was hitting high levels again because of the small things I had learnt about him.

I will never disinfect again because it made no difference for Hugo and I think that Rosie needs to be able to have some sort of immune system to be able to enjoy running along the carpet and sitting outside.

As I said before, Im not a vet and breeder and they all have more experience than I do.

Sorry to hear that. What you say sounds reasonable.